International Arbitration.—As civili zation has progressed, chiefly through vast improvement in transportation, which by mixing up the peoples of the world has made life an infinitely more complex thing, the world has continually sought to find some means for the settlement of international disputes which should avert the horrors and vast economic expense of war. The history of arbitra tion during the past half century fur nishes at least an interesting comment ary on the efforts on the part of civilized nations to keep the peace.
The word is defined as "an arrange ment for taking and abiding by the judgment of a selected person (or per sons) in some disputed matter, instead of carrying it to the established courts of justice." Arbitration as• the simplest means of settling a dispute is as old as the first civilized state of man. It was i employed by the Romans and its use among modern nations is derived prima rily from them.
The Arbitration Act of 1889 in Eng land sums up the English law to date and that of the United States is very much like it. According to such codifications the primary condition is the agreement of both parties to accept the award of an independent tribunal. Such a court may be special or general, temporary or permanent, open or restricted. In the gravest cases the tribunal works under a special treaty—in the case of the United States, made by the Senate. Financial claims of a private nature are based usually upon executive agreements. The Hague Convention of 1599 intro duced a provision "that in case of ques tions in dispute affecting neither the vital interest nor the honor of the nations involved international commis sions of inquiry shall be appointed to examine and report upon the local cir cumstances"—such reports to serve "either as the basis of diplomatic settle ment or of formal arbitration." A commission of this character was appointed in 1904 in the dispute between Great Britain and Russia on the firing upon British fishing vessels in the North Sea by the Russian fleet, and its findings were accepted as final.
The powers of such commissions were extended through a proposal of the Secretary of State of the United States in the year 1913, to all international questions; war not to be declared in any event pending a decision.
Arbitration, which is the flower of civilization, can only be utilized by civil ized countries. It was freely employed
among the Greeks in questions of bound aries, commerce, and even religion. The foreign policy of Rome pointing to uni versal dominion forbade arbitration, but during the Middle Ages it again came into use, under the authority of the Church. The popes and other high dig nitaries of the Roman Church became natural arbitrators in cases of private in terest and internal policy, and were often called upon. Pope Alexander VI., acting in such a capacity, traced "an imaginary line from pole to pole in his decision of all lands, discovered in the New World, between Spain and Portugal." Pope Clement XI. was umpire in the treaty of Ryswick between Louis XIV. and Leopold I. Arbitration naturally de clined with the Reformation, and the es tablishment of absolute temporal king doms. The great progress of civiliza tion with the new area of scientific discovery, especially the invention of steam transportation that brought all nations into such close relation, brought about a return to arbitration methods. There were more than 130 courts of ar bitration for grave international ques tions and as many more for financial claims in operation during the 19th cen tury.
The United States and Great Britain have been foremost among the nations in showing the world the way.
Most important among these was the Treaty of Washington, constituting a Joint High Commission, which, sitting at Geneva in 1871, settled the "Alabama" claims. The frequent disputes between the Latin-American States during the past half century have been for the most part peacefully determined by arbitra tion.
During the last century and a quarter the United States has figured largely in this field of diplomacy.
The Jay Treaty of 1794, negotiated by John Jay, as chief representative of American interests, with Great Britain, called for one commission to settle the identity of the St. Croix river on the northeastern boundary; for another to determine between certain of the States aud British creditors whose debts had been repudiated or dishonored in violation of the treaty; and a third to settle the rights of neutrals, questions of contra band, and the penalty of the decisions of prize courts.